Trump Says US Offered 'Anything They Want' to Nepal as About 90 Americans Remain Unaccounted For

US President Donald Trump has said Washington offered Nepal 'anything they want' in aid as catastrophic flash floods near the Tibet border killed more than 500 people and left more than 1,500 missing.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump called the disaster 'terrible' and said US officials had spoken to Nepalese leaders about providing whatever assistance was needed.

His remarks came as rescue crews pulled mud-caked survivors from debris and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety across the Himalayan border region.

The State Department said about 90 US citizens remained unaccounted for, with three Americans rescued and no confirmed US fatalities so far.

Trump's 'Anything They Want' Promise and the 90 Missing Americans

US State Department said roughly 90 US citizens were unaccounted for as of Thursday, a day after the flash floods hit, although three Americans had been rescued and no US fatalities were confirmed.

'We're currently tracking 90 Americans who may be impacted by the flood, currently unaccounted for,' a State Department spokesperson said.

On Wednesday, the department also announced it was sending a disaster response adviser to the region along with $500,000 in aid.

Donald Trump said from the Oval Office on Thursday that the United States has offered Nepal 'anything they want' as catastrophic flash floods along the Nepal‑China border continue to claim lives.

'We're sending aid,' he told reporters, adding that Washington had spoken to Nepal's leadership and made clear it would supply whatever assistance they needed. 'We let them know anything they want, we'll have,' he said.

The president also estimated that '50 or 60' Americans were in the hardest‑hit area, though State Department figures suggest the number of potentially affected US citizens is higher.

Nepal's own tally underlines the scale. The country's disaster management authority said on Friday that 538 people were confirmed dead, and that more than 3,700 people had been rescued. Nepali police later reported an even higher death toll of 547.

Across the border, Chinese state media said five people had died, and 558 were missing in Tibet. Nepal listed 977 missing on its side, including at least 517 foreigners, many of them tourists, workers, trekkers and Hindu pilgrims travelling towards Mount Kailash, a sacred site for Hindus, Buddhists and others.

Human Cost Behind the Numbers: Pilgrims and Families Left Waiting

Many of the Americans on the State Department's list were taking once‑in‑a‑lifetime trips to Mount Kailash in Tibet.

Loved ones have been using social media to plead for updates, sharing names and photos of a Virginia woman on a tour, a Texas couple on a birthday trip and a mother travelling with her 14‑year‑old daughter.

Among the missing is Venus Rajnikant Patel, a 45‑year‑old Indian‑born US citizen from Ohio who had recently moved from St Louis to Cincinnati to help his family.

His brother, Dennis, told the AP that Venus spoke to him and their parents only hours before the floods, calling from his hotel room on the Nepalese side of the border and talking excitedly about finally crossing into Tibet. Dennis said he had been planning the pilgrimage for two years.

His friend Jolene Gosha also told the AP that she and others were devastated when they realised his hotel sat directly in the path of the floodwaters. 'We're just hoping, hoping that by some chance he was able to climb his way out of it,' she said. 'I don't want to give myself false hope because I know the reality is that he's probably not with us.'

Another case that has resonated in the US is that of 72‑year‑old Jitendra Patel from Long Island, who was on a Hindu pilgrimage to Mount Kailash with a tour group.

His son, Sunny, said Jitendra last called on Wednesday morning local time via WhatsApp to say he had crossed into Tibet. When Sunny saw early video of the flooding, he thought 'no one could survive it'.

He checked with his mother, who told him Jitendra had been in the exact area shown in the clips. 'My heart sank,' Sunny said, adding that he 'didn't think it was possible that my dad would be there at ground zero.'

Sadhguru's Followers and a Nine‑Minute Window in Nepal

The disaster has also deeply affected pilgrims linked to high‑profile spiritual organisations. Indian spiritual leader Jaggi Vasudev, widely known as Sadhguru, said on X that 77 people returning from Mount Kailash with groups organised by his Isha Foundation were at an immigration centre in Gyirong, Tibet, when the floods hit.

Leslie Crespi, a community liaison for the foundation's US campus, said 22 of those were Americans affiliated with Isha and that three volunteers supporting the trekkers were also at the centre when the waters arrived.

'We had communication with the coordinator of the group at about 9:05 Nepalese time saying that they had arrived there,' Crespi said. 'And then by 9:14 is when this flash flood hit.' Nine minutes between a routine check‑in and chaos.

She said the trekkers were 'like family' and that for many people who go on the Nepal trips it is a 'lifelong dream to go and be there'.

The Isha Foundation itself is based in India, and its US arm, the Isha Institute of Inner‑sciences, runs a yoga and meditation retreat in the mountains near McMinnville, Tennessee.

At a candlelight vigil in New York City, Long Island resident Tak Ruwali, who is originally from one of the Nepali districts devastated by the flooding, said he had been speaking with contacts on the ground. Many regional tourist guides were 'out of contact now', he said, before adding bluntly, 'It means they are probably gone.'

The flash floods struck Himalayan border regions of Nepal and China's Tibet on Wednesday, engulfing valleys, villages and roads used by workers, trekkers and religious pilgrims. Nepal's disaster agency initially reported at least 392 deaths, a figure that later climbed above 500 as rescue teams reached more remote areas.

Chinese authorities have reported a far lower official death toll on their side, but hundreds remain missing there as well.

Both governments have linked the disaster to a glacial collapse high in the mountains, which sent rock, ice, mud and water surging through river systems that feed both countries.

Scientists who have examined satellite imagery said the rockfall was powerful enough to register a magnitude 5.2 on the Richter scale.

Nepal's disaster management authority said 3,253 people had been airlifted by helicopter from the disaster area, with survivors and injured taken to Kathmandu and other locations.

Yet the danger is not over. Nepali police issued a fresh alert after receiving information that a dam on the Tibetan side had burst, telling security personnel and rescue workers to stay on high alert and move to safety if necessary.